The Pyro and The Cryo
by symbolicowl
Summary: The 2p!Nordics have ventured into the 1p!World in order to kidnap their 1ps! There's just one problem-2p!Ice is a bit of a wimp who has a small soft spot for the 1p!Nordics. Especially after she sees how they interact with one another and realizes she wants a family like that.
1. Prologue

**Okay, I'm going to try to keep this short. This is my first attempt at a multi-chapter story so please be nice. Please forgive any errors as I have had trouble finding a beta. If you would like to beta me please let me know. I'm sorry if my 2p characters don't match how you interpret them, but as they are relatively open characters and not set in stone I did take a few liberties with them; however, I did try to stay true to the standard images to them. Currently I am taking one AP class and one honors class so I currently have a lot of homework and may not be able to post regularly. I would love just a quick 30 second review, just to let me know if you think this is a good story. I think I'm done now. Read on and Enjoy!**

 **-Symbolic**

* * *

 _Pyromania:_

 _An impulse control disorder consisting of a_

 _compulsion to set or watch fires. The pyromaniac_

 _gets intense pleasure and emotional relief_

 _from these activities._

 _Cryomania:_

 _Unofficial, but correct term for someone_

 _obsessed with ice as a pyromaniac_

 _is with fire._

The Nordics were walking home after a World Meeting. The meeting was held in Denmark this time and had run late. The streets were dark as they dragged their weary bodies home. A whole day of arguing and unresolved issues had taken its toll on the usually buoyant group. Even Denmark was quiet-something Norway had yet to comment on. Sweden was guiding Finland in front as Finland nearly fell asleep and stumbled frequently. Iceland was about two feet behind them with his arms crossed in front of his chest and Mr. Puffin sleeping silently on his head. Norway was about a foot behind him just as silent and worn out as the rest of them. Denmark was about three feet behind Norway, oddly silent and walking at a non-bouncy pace.

The streets were getting progressively darker as they meandered on. Then they heard something that made their blood run cold; an insane giggle broke out behind them followed by pattering footsteps that got closer from behind Denmark. They stopped dead in their tracks and looked around in an effort to discern where the giggler was coming from. the footsteps pattered ever closer behind Denmark. The Nordics glanced at each other, weariness gone replaced with cold adrenalin, before taking off in the opposite direction of the footsteps. Another giggle echoed in the nearly empty street and a distinctly female voice joined that giggle.

"This'll be fun!~"

The Nordics were running as fast as they could and twisted down different street, but no matter how many streets they turned down, they couldn't escape the foot-stepping-giggler. Sweden turned down another street with the other Nordics following. Denmark yelled after the disappearing Nordics.

"Wait guys! That's an-uh!"

He had stopped in the mouth of the "street" to warn them that were running into an alley, but the foot-stepper had pushed him into the alley. The Nordics spun around when Denmark hit the ground in front of their feet. They were trapped; backed into an alley and the only way out had the giggler blocking it.

The giggler pulled out something rectangular shaped with a straw coming out one side. They held it up and a light flicked on. It was dim, but enough for all to see the giggler was a girl and the object was a big lighter, for candles and fires, not cigarettes, that was currently lit.

Giggles was definitely on the smaller side, shorter than Iceland even. She had white hair that was slightly wavy and fell down to her lower back. The front of it was pulled back with a black ribbon and the back half hung loose. She had bangs that floated down her forehead to cover her eyebrows and just skimmed her bright red eyes. Her skin was icey pale except for her cheeks which held a slight rosy flush to them, likely from chasing after them. Her pale pink lips were stretched into an insane smile that showed off pearly white teeth. Her slim fingers were delicate looking and clutched tightly around the lighter as if she was afraid to let go and risk losing the light from the fire. The insane smile was accented by the insane amusement in her eyes that seemed to flicker like the fire she clutched close.

She was wearing black combat boots with black leggings. The boots rose up to the middle of her shins while the leggings fell to just below her knees leaving about two inches of pale white skin showing. She wore a white dress that was fitted on the top and flared slightly in the skirt. The collar of her dress went up to her neck and had a short scarf-like tie under it tied in a simple knot and left to hang down about two inches from the bottom of her neck. Over her dress she wore a black leather jacket.

She stepped closer to them in the alley, her insane grin somehow stretched even further, and, in her singsong voice, she called out to them.

"Halló Nordics!~"

* * *

 **Halló:** Hello _in Icelandic_


	2. Chapter 1

**This is soo late! I never expected it to be so late, but school got away from me and the homework piled up. Everything kind of spiraled out of control, but I'm back and I'm determined to finish this piece no matter how long it takes me (hopefully not to long as school will be ending in less than a month). I can't promise to update sooner, but I will promise to try.**

 **I'd like to give a quick shout out to GalaxyWolf2.0 and AmericanDaisy17 who gave me such sweet reviews that still make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside everytime I read them and inspire me to keep writing this piece.**

 **Again, I'd love to receive reviews and critiques, but please don't be mean about them. Please do let me know if you continue to like the way I portray my 2p!fem!Iceland. I'm not used to having more violent and crazy characters as my main characters, and I worry about losing her characterization or making her too nice, admittedly she is intended to be nicer than a lot of the other 2ps, sort of like 2p!England, because of the plot I have planned. Read on and enjoy!**

 **-Symbolic**

* * *

 _"_ _Because no one has more thirst for earth, for blood,_

 _and for ferocious sexuality than the creatures who_

 _inhabit cold mirrors"_

 _-Alejandra Pizarnik_

They stiffened, faces betraying their shock with widened eyes and, in some cases, dropping jaws. Denmark picked himself up off the ground and glared suspiciously at the girl.

"How do you know who we are?" He demanded of her.

"I don't like your tone very much," she informed him with a grin.

His eyes flashed as he grit his teeth at her disrespectful and condescending scolding.

"I don't care if you don't like my tone; answer the question!" He all but yelled out.

"No.~" She pouted.

"Answer. The. Question," he bit out.

"But I don't want to!" She whined, looking put out.

"Just answer the-" he started yelling then, suddenly, cut off, looking over her shoulder.

The other Nordics stared just over her shoulder as well where four dark shadows were entering the alley behind her. Hope soared through their veins. Maybe these shadows would help them get away from her.

"What? What are you looking at?" She exclaimed looking around.

She turned around and saw the shadows and froze. The Nordics' hope soared ever higher. She let out a blinding smile at the shadows and just like that, the hope they had been hoisting higher and higher came crashing back down to Earth and died. She spun back around and looked at the Nordics; her insane grin in place once again.

"Awww, look at your beautifully crushed faces! Did you really think they were going to help!~" She giggled.

She stared at their faces for a moment before laughing even harder.

"You really did! Well then, let me introduce you to my family," she smiled while gesturing behind her at the shadows.

The shadows stepped into the glow and shocked the Nordics. They saw almost exact copies of themselves-all except Iceland who didn't see any man who resembled him.

The copies had a few noticeable differences. For example Finland-copy had slightly paler hair, red eyes, and a cruel sneer. His uniform was also bright red instead of pale blue. Sweden-copy had strawberry-blonde hair, a kind smile, and also had red eyes. His overcoat was a bright red that matched Finland's uniform. Unlike their Finland and Sweden, where Sweden took a more in-front and defensive position, Finland-copy stood in front of Sweden-copy. Denmark-copy had the same black shirt as Denmark, but his tie was red and so were his pants. He also lacked Denmark's coat. His hair was a shade lighter as well. His eyes were purple and he had a scar beneath his left eyes that went down to just above his mouth. Between his fingers was a lit cigarette. The biggest difference was his expression. He stared at the Nordics with a calm expression, focused. Norway-copy was standing angled towards Denmark-copy with his arms crossed in front of his chest and a pout on his face. His suit was a darker red than the other Nordic-copies. His eyes were bright blue.

Denmark took a step back.

"Wh-who are you people?" He stuttered out.

"We're you from another world," responded the girl with the crazy grin.

Iceland stepped forward next to Denmark, shaking off Norway's grip.

"Where is the me from your world?" He asked.

"I am!" The crazy girl exclaimed while sticking her hand in the air and bouncing up and down.

Norway-copy stepped forward.

"Stop bouncing! You're giving me a headache!" He snapped at her.

She stopped bouncing and pouted for a moment before spinning around and trapping Norway-copy in a hug.

"Ok, big brother!" She chirped.

"Dritthode! Hva pokker driver du med*?" He yelled while pushing her off.

He rubbed the ear closest to where she had been.

"Don't chirp in my ear, dritthode. And I've told you, stop hugging me!"

The girl sat on the ground with her arms crossed over her chest. She stared off in front of her, pouting. Denmark-copy rubbed his hands over his face and let out a long sigh.

"Iceland, get up and stop pouting."

"No. Why should I when my big brother doesn't want me?" She pouted.

Sweden-copy shifted forward towards Girl-Iceland

"I'll be your big brother Iceland," he said in a kind voice.

Girl-Iceland spun around where she sat.

"Really!?" She squealed.

Sweden-copy smiled and nodded at her. Finland-copy glared even more and turned to face Sweden-copy.

"You are not inviting _that_ to be a part of our family!" He snapped, pointing at her.

Girl-Iceland watched Sweden-copy with hopeful and pleading eyes. Sweden-copy gave her a small sad smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry Iceland." He said calmly.

Her shoulders dropped and she turned to stare at her feet. Her eyes teared up and her lower lip began to tremble minutely.

"Don't you dare start crying dritthode! Stå opp**!" Norway-copy yelled at her.

"Stop calling me that!" She yelled back.

Norway-copy snorted and turned away from Girl-Iceland while Denmark-copy came up behind her. He grabbed her under the arms and hoisted her up.

"Focus Iceland, Norway," he commanded them.

Norway-copy refused to look at him while Girl-Iceland nodded before starting to bounce again, a less insane smile on her face.

"So how do we do this?" Girl-Iceland asked, looking up at Denmark-copy.

Denmark-copy sighed and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, black velvet bag with a black ribbon tying it shut. The Nordics and Nordic-copies watched as he untied the ribbon and gently shook out five unique beads. Norway's eyes widened and he sucked in a sharp breath when he saw the three runes of Ur, Is, and Lagu*** etched into them which caused Denmark to turn slightly, always keeping the Copies in his sight, and question him.

"What are they Nor?" Denmark asked.

"Rune beads. They're designed for sleep," Norway responded.

Norway-copy adopted a shark-like grin when he heard Norway's cautious explanation.

"From our England." He said as a way of confirmation.

Finland, Iceland, and Norway took a step back while Denmark and Sweden prepared themselves to fight. Finland and Norway stood tensely behind them with Norway shielding a nervous Iceland even farther behind him. Girl-Iceland stared at Norway and Iceland with bright confusion in her eyes and...was that longing Norway noticed? It couldn't be, an insane person surely never felt like that.

The silent questions were stopped when Denmark-copy gave them a small smirk before dumping the beads into the hands of the girl. The confusion dried up in Girl-Iceland's eyes as the insane smile they had all come to dread reappeared. No orders were said before the girl darted forward, already knowing what to do, and quickly got the surprise on Sweden. She dropped a gray bead with dark blue etching down the back of his shirt, eliminating one of the toughest fighters right from the start and sending him crashing to the ground asleep, before winking at Finland and stepping back in preparation for the lunge from Denmark. He reached for her, going straight for the throat, but she ducked at the last minute and landed a solid punch in his gut causing his breath to rush out. He stepped back, with a hand over his gut where he had been punched and watched to see what she would do for a moment, but she only gave him a smile, not realizing that she had slipped the yellow and black rune bead into his shirt when she had punched him.

Girl-Iceland lurched forward when she felt a strong hit on her back, prompting her to spin around in time to see Finland's foot return to the ground. Her grin grew wider as she lunged forward at him, aiming to punch his nose, but he sidestepped her and hit her cheek. She stumbled back, her hand instinctively going up to cradle her cheek where she'd been hit, which moved her closer to Norway who took the opportunity to give her another kick, only about an inch up from where Finland's foot had landed. She tripped forward and , unable to catch herself, fell to the rough concrete. She pushed herself up to her knees and stared at the ground in shock and pain. She watched from the corner of her eye how Norway had minutely relaxed and stepped forward just a bit, which was enough for her to lunge to her feet and spring forward enough to drop the bead down his shirt and spin back around to face Finland. Her grin was even more insane as she faced the person who had managed to land not one, but two hits on her and was gearing up to land a third.

Finland refused to lunge, seeing how that mistake had already been made by Denmark, and instead focused on his defense, waiting for her to strike first. She moved to the left which prompted him to move so that she couldn't get any closer to him. They circled each other for a few seconds before her grin got bigger. She lunged forward and shoved him back while he landed another solid hit, this time hitting her nose and causing a gush of blood to shoot down her face as she met the concrete ground, before he fell. Finland closed his eyes and clenched his teeth on instinct as he waited to hit the jarring concrete, but was instead met with sharp, bony fingers. He looked up in horror at the apathetic look on Denmark-copy's face as his bone-like fingers nailed him in place. He had been so involved in his fight he had forgotten the other people there. Over Denmark-copy's shoulder he could see Norway-copy grinning at him. Ice rushed through his veins as his attention was forced back on Girl-Iceland as she stood up, blood still running from her nose as she wiped at it, only causing more blood to run to replace it, and stepped forward. A now-bloody blue and maroon bead clutched in her hand which she dropped down his shirt with a vengeful smile as he struggled.

Finally, Girl-Iceland turned to face Iceland, who was standing in the corner of the alley, pressed as far back into the wall as possible in fear of what his copy would do to him. She stepped closer and a light went up in her eyes when he tried to step back. She grabbed the edges of his coat and smiled at him, leaning in she whispered two words that caused Iceland's eyes to widen before he slumped as the white and red bead attached itself to his skin.

"You lose."

Girl-Iceland let him fall to the ground, stepping back to her family. She smiled up at Norway-copy who smirked viciously at the fallen Nordics. He barely glanced at her except to give her a sneer.

"Ice, go grab Finland," Denmark told her, just glancing in her direction.

"Okay!" Girl-Iceland chirped while turning around.

Girl-Iceland grabbed the arm of Finland-copy with a bright smile on her face and the insanity lessened in her eyes. He gave her a look of absolute disgust and attempted to yank his arm from her tight grip.

"What the hell are you doing?" Finland-copy questioned in a raised voice as he continued to yank on his arm, but only managed to tug her arm around a little.

"Ice, what are you doing?" Denmark-copy questioned, pinching the bridge of his nose before turning to stare at the dark sky.

"You said to grab Finland, so I did," Ice replied with an expression that said it should have been obvious what she was doing.

"Not me, he meant the other Finland!" Finland-copy snapped, still trying to tug himself free.

Finally Girl-Iceland's grip released him as her mouth popped open in recognition.

"Let's just...call the other guys by their human names." Denmark-copy put in.

"Of course, we need to make sure the idiot's understand," Finland-copy snapped.

"Hey! Anyone could have made that mistake," She snapped back.

"Well not anyone did, did they?" Finland-copy snarked back.

"Hey! Hey! Enough! Iceland, go load the others in the truck." Denmark-copy ordered, breaking up their fight before it could get physical...again, and someone got seriously hurt...again.

Girl-Iceland gave a sharp nod and turned to face the sleeping bodies of the Nordics. She walked to the closest one, Sweden, and grabbed him under the arms, dragging him across the pavement to their big green SUV. Finland followed behind her and opened the back of the SUV, revealing five dog cages before bending over to help Iceland lift Berwald up and deposit him in the cage. She clanged the door shut and slid the lock in place in case the magic should fail and Berwald awake before they arrived back home. She and Finland then turned around and repeated the process with the others, the last one being Emil whom Iceland managed to load by herself.

After they were loaded into the car, the five copies got in, Iceland being the only one sitting in the very back as the others refused to sit with her. Denmark took the driver's seat, having to stop Norway from taking it which would have likely killed them all, and Finland and Sweden sitting right behind them. Iceland had tried to sit next to Finland when he had put his feet up on the seat. She had given him a nasty glare before folding the seat down right on top of his legs and climbing into the back seats. Iceland curled up in the window seat opposite to the side Finland was sitting on and watched the beautifully dark night world stream by them as Denmark drove them to one of the six portal points, three in Europe, two in Asia, and one in North America, and had to close her eyes when they entered it and the world swirled around them, making her feel sick.

When Iceland opened her eyes again they were in their original world. She stared at the dark streets that contained only trash, no sign of life. The houses were dark and looked nearly abandoned with their boarded up windows, fading paint, and overall stench of dirt and unclean humans. The trees that had lined the mirror world's streets, looking so green and healthy and alive, were bare and dying in their world. Just looking at it, after having seen the other world, brought tears to Iceland's eyes. It disgusted her, how dirty their world was. Before all this she could have ignored it, could have played it off as being normal, but now that she had that beautiful mirror world to compare it too, how could this place not inspire loathing in her.

Denmark glanced in the mirror and sighed, ducking his head down before returning to staring straight ahead.

"Iceland, why are you crying?" Denmark asked, sounding as though he was just tired of having to deal with her, which was, of course, entirely possible and, even more than that, probable.

None of Iceland's brothers could stand to be around the very emotive girl for long. Even Norway who possessed the most emotion besides her couldn't stand it. He said she was too weepy, or wimpy, or whatever else he found disgusting around her.

Denmark's question caused all the others in the car to spin around and stare at her as she tried to wipe the tears away and hide them. Eventually she gave up, just letting her hands fall into her lap and glared up at the others, daring them to comment, which of course they would. None of them were afraid of her either, knowing she would never actually hurt them, another thing that made them despise her, her sense of family loyalty. While it was good in some cases, they never had to fear her betrayal, it also annoyed them and made the other countries laugh at them for having such a weak sister who couldn't even claim it was because she was a micronation and, therefore, not as strong as the others.

"Look out there," she told them, waiting for a moment as they all, except Finland, did as she told. "Our world is so ugly and barren compared to theirs. Why don't we just go back? We can leave _them_ here and _we_ could go take their place in their world!"

"Idiot! Italy gave us this job and you want to back out on it, are you insane?" Finland hissed at her as she shrunk back away from him.

"Just shut up dritthode!" Norway yelled at her before adding something else under his breath. "Why did I get cursed to have such a wimpy and pathetic sister. Finland was right, I should have left her on that island the minute I saw her, what an idiot I was for thinking I could somehow turn... _that_...into something!"

Iceland shrank back into her seat under the weight of their stares and curled up in her seat, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees. She put her head down on her arms as she felt tears stinging her eyes at Norway's words, it wasn't as if she hadn't heard them before, but it still stung every time. The others rolled their eyes and turned to face forward except Sweden who stared at her in concern until Finland snapped an order in Finnish, which caused Sweden to immediately whip his head around.

They drove for a few minutes before giving a final turn and stopping, prompting Iceland to raise her head, the tears vanishing as she noticed they were at the building usually reserved for their disastrous World Meetings that always seemed to end in violence, bloodshed, and promises of war. She waited until Finland and Sweden had climbed out, allowing her to fold the seat in front of her. She was stepping over the seat when a rattling sound reached her ears. She spun around and climbed back onto the back seat on her knees and peaked over the back seat. She looked at the cages and saw a violet eye staring back at her from beneath white hair that so resembled her own. She spun back around and sat down for a moment, how weird to know that this was another version of her, of how she might have turned out if she had been raised in his world. She shook her head and hopped over the folded seat and out of the car, slamming the door and having to run to catch up with her siblings who had already started walking towards the building.

The five of them walked in silence up to the front steps of the building. Standing to the side of the steps were two men, France and China, discussing something that probably had to do with drinking or smoking. Standing a bit away from everyone was Russia who, although he was angled to face away from China, was keeping a protective watch over the man. Iceland didn't talk much to those three, actually she didn't really talk to any of the Allies, but those three were the least vocal at Meetings. Standing right in front of the steps were the most vocal of the Allies, England, America, and Canada, who were proving their vocality by slowly increasing the volume of their voice. Iceland and her four brothers came to a stop in front of the vocal group, still standing far enough away that they could only catch snippets of their conversation. Before long, the typical group dynamics came into play, Finland cursing and complaining to Sweden about who knows what and punching his arm and yelling whenever his attention seemed to dally; meanwhile Denmark was yelling at Norway who was pouting and whining about wanting to go home and return to his 'games'. Iceland almost shuddered at that, remembering those games from when she was young and how often she had been the target of those games. It was a good thing Denmark was there to temper her brother, otherwise she likely would have been killed as a kid.

The conversations were broken off by a set of footsteps that sounded as cold and clinical as their owner. Four figures appeared at the top of the stairs, one stood in front of the others and stared down at them all with cold, disparaging magenta eyes.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading this and for any who actually stuck with me through my way-to-long-taking update!**

 ***** **Dritthode! Hva pokker driver du med?-** Shithead (This one will be used a lot)! What the hell are you doing?

 ****Stå opp!-** Get Up!

 *****Ur, Is, and Lagu-** I don't know how right these are, but when I looked up runes these three were the ones that had to do with low energy, or dreaming

 **I don't know how right my translations are, I didn't use Google Translate, but I did look them up online.**

 **Please continue to stick with me.**


	3. Chapter 2

**I'm sorry this update is so late. I can't really give any excuse why I haven't updated in so long. I'll tell you though, rereading the reviews I've gotten made me want to finish this piece and I will. I have the whole story mapped out, just writing it and trying to find a good pacing takes a lot of time and I'm so sorry that I don't often have that time, but the people who take the time to write me just one nice sentence about my story make my day. You people make me want to cry out of happiness. Thank you so very much to LillianNovakJones and GalaxyWolf2.0. You people make me smile so much! And thank you to all the people who have favorited or followed this story!**

 **Read on and Enjoy!**

 **-Symbolic**

* * *

 _"_ _You want to tell a story? Grow a heart. Grow two._

 _Now, with the second heart, smash the first one into bits. Gross, right?_

 _A bloody pulpy liquid mess. Look at it, try to make sense of it._

 _Realize you can't. Because there is no sense._

 _Ask your computer to print out a list of every lie you have ever told._

 _Ask yourself how much of the universe you have ever really seen._

 _Look in the mirror. Are you sure you're you?_

 _Are you sure you didn't slip out of yourself in the middle of the night,_

 _and someone else slipped into you,_

 _without you or you or any of you even noticing?"_

 _-Charles Yu_

Iceland could feel her throat closing and her stomach growing icy under the examination of Italy. He stood at the tops of the steps and gave of all of them a look that reeked of disgust, but he seemed to reserve his loathing look for her. Iceland tried to glare back at him, but could tell by his amused smirk that she had failed completely.

Behind Italy, to the right, stood his blonde brother, Romano, and to the left of him stood Germany, who stared at the ground in apathy, and Japan, who watched them with resentfully red eyes. Italy took one step forward down the first step. He surveyed over the gathered nations and smiled viciously in victory.

"I assume you have all completed your missions?" Italy questioned, but before any of the gathered nations could affirm he plowed on. "Very well then, if you could go get them, we will hold them at the our home of operations."

A bolt of surprise traveled through Iceland as she watched the others slowly begin to meander towards their cars.

"Wait a second!" She called out, flinching when she drew everyone's attention to her. "Why should you guys get them after all the work the rest of us put in? Didn't the Ally guys even go get your alternates while you stayed here? How do we know you won't turn them against us?"

Iceland had added that last part after the glares the others were giving her, probably eager to get their alternates off their hands the way she knew her brothers wanted to. However, a new gleam of suspicion entered her eyes at those last words. Immediately it was as if a sudden shift came over all those gathered there, even the most laid back nations, France, Canada, and Denmark, stared around them at the other nations with tensed muscles and narrowed eyes.

Italy gave her the darkest look she had ever received, but she knew her words had done their job. Once the seed of suspicion was planted, there was nothing that could reunite them to a common mission. It was the key way to break up World Meetings that they had all used at least once. Italy smirked at her.

"Fine, all of you, feel free to take your alternates with you, but that just means you have to watch them and be responsible for them should they escape. Personally responsible," Italy finished with a direct look at Iceland that made her shiver.

Iceland knew that look. She'd been on the receiving end of that look only once and it had required her to hide from Italy for two years. She glanced around at the other countries who looked upset, but grudgingly were agreeing. She let out a small breath, relieved that her brother's alternates wouldn't be subjected to Italy's version of fun. They looked far to like her brothers for her to imagine them being hurt by him, it made her feel cold and alone, like she was letting her real brothers down. The others grumbled as they walked away, their meeting apparently over with that final enjoin from Italy.

Iceland followed silently behind her brothers trying to hide the bright smile on her face, knowing they'd be pissed if they caught onto what she had done.

"I can't believe Italy would try to take advantage of all the work _we_ did!" Finland exclaimed, scowling even more when Sweden agreed with a "Yes dear!".

"You can't believe it? I believe it, the others are always trying to steal credit when they don't even do anything," Norway said with a yawn.

"And you're one to talk, right?" Denmark remarked, making Norway glare over at him.

The group arrived at the car and everyone climbed into their previous seats. Iceland finally let a smile overtake her face. She knew none of the others would look back at her, so she didn't have to worry about them seeing it and catching onto what she had done. She was tempted to spin around and tell the others in the cages how lucky they were, but that would likely draw the attention of the others. She roved her eyes over her brothers. Denmark and Norway were fighting over the stereo, Denmark wanting to listen to classical music and Norway fighting to listen to some cheesy pop station. Finland and Sweden were talking to each other in lower voices that, when Iceland leaned closer to hear, she could discern was Finnish from Sweden's slight hesitancy before speaking. She quickly pushed herself back into her seat when Finland spun around and glared at her, his hand twitching towards what she knew was a small pistol hidden in his uniform.

As Iceland leaned back in her seat, she swore she could hear voices coming from the back. She pressed herself further into the seat and strained to hear the voices coming from their prisoners in the back. She could definitely hear them, but she was unable to make out what they were saying. She jumped and clutched her ears when a blast of loud music filled the car as Denmark and Norway started to fight over the volume controls. Iceland felt conflicted over what she should do. She hardly listened as Finland yelled at the two nations up front. The prisoners in the back looked like her brothers, but they were not her brothers. Would it be more of a betrayal to tell on the people who looked like her brothers, or to not tell her actual brothers? She gathered her courage and leaned forward, tapping on Finland's shoulder.

"What do you want?" Finland yelled at Iceland, his hand digging into his uniform.

"I can hear them speaking in the back," Iceland said.

Finland turned and passed the information on to Norway who grumbled, but surrendered the fight with Denmark, causing the cheesy pop music to change to a furious classical station whose music pounded out with a confusing mix of fervor and elegance, and started searching around his feet for a small bag that held another charm England had made that would put people within a 1.5 meter range (5 ft.) to sleep. Iceland had wondered why they didn't use it in the alley, but didn't actually ask why they hadn't, she would never turn down a chance at a fight she could actually win for once. Norway handed the charm wrapped in a purple cloth to Finland with a warning to _not_ toss it at Iceland because, "When this is dropped it'll activate and knowing _that_ , the charm would put us all to sleep." So for once, Finland actually handed Iceland something instead of throwing it at her.

When Iceland got the charm she pulled the cloth off, taking special care not to drop it, and stared in awe at the little block in her hand that swirled deep blues, purples, and pinks against a black background. She climbed onto her knees and turned around so she was leaning over the seat and looking into the trunk. She leaned over the cages, ignoring the way the two who looked like her brothers, Lukas and Tino she believed they were called, looked up at her as she stretched out her arm so the charm would fall on the floor right in front of the cages. She heard a sharp inhale from Lukas before she dropped the charm before pulling her arm back. She leaned her head on her arm and watched in fascination as the charm shattered once it hit the ground and released the dark colors that swirled through the air like snow on an especially windy day. The colors swirled around and disappeared into the air. Iceland watched as the others in the cages began to slow down their movements and droop. She felt her eyes growing heavy and a weight settled in her chest, making her heart beat slower and her breath shallower. Slowly the world became darker around her.

When Iceland next opened her eyes, she was confused by what she saw. She thought she was looking at the bottom of a car seat, but how had she ended up like that? She looked up and saw the roof of the car. Her eyes widened when she suddenly felt a flash of pain in her legs, she reached up for the seat and pulled herself back up into a kneeling position. It appeared that at some point Denmark had slammed on the breaks and she had fallen back and over the seat. That explained the pain in her legs, she had fallen while still kneeling and her legs were cramped after being in such an uncomfortable position for so long. Iceland also felt a dull ache in her head where she had likely hit the back of the seat on front of her when she had fallen. She ran her hand over her head and felt a slight sense of relief when her hand was clean of any blood.

"Hey dritthode, get out here and help us unload the cages."

Iceland scrambled from the car when she heard Norway's words. Iceland ran around the car to the back where Denmark was carrying a cage containing his copy around and into the house. Norway was standing back and directing the others except Finland who was watching Sweden unload the car. No one, not even Denmark, would ever even consider directing Finland to do anything. Iceland stepped forward and grabbed the cage containing Tino while Sweden was beginning to carry Berwald into the house. Iceland stumbled under the weight and awkwardness of the cage. She went into the house through the garage door and carried the cage down the hall and into the basement.

Iceland felt a shiver travel up her back, but also felt rather happy that for once _she_ was locking _somebody else_ into the cell in the basement instead of being locked in it herself. The basement was rather dark and although there wasn't much light, Iceland knew from experience that the walls were a light blue that had faded to a blue-gray, the floors were a dark gray in an attempt to hide dirt and blood, and there 32 cracks in the walls and ceiling as well as 10 moisture stains all on the ceiling and all located in the corner where a bathroom sat on the floor above. Denmark was heading back up the stairs as Iceland carried the cage down, nearly tripping a few times and wishing she could let go of the cage and clutch the rather rickety and possibly rusted railing. Iceland set the cage down inside the cell and opened the door before leaving and heading back outside. She passed Sweden who was taking his cage inside the cell.

Once outside again, Iceland grabbed her copy's cage and turned back to the house, pausing for a moment to readjust her hands so she wouldn't drop the cage. She glanced up at their house that seemed to be sagging in on itself. It was a dull gray that matched the color of a stormy sky. A few of the windows were bordered over and one of the windows to their living room had been broken while they were gone. The door to the house looked as though it would give in if someone just leaned on it and she was sure it was only her brother's ruthless reputation and known fondness for violence and fire that kept people from attempting to break into the house.

Iceland headed back into the house with the others following her which would have made her pause if she didn't know, again from experience, that if she stopped her brothers would simply run into her, yell at her, and push her to get her moving again and completely ignore any questions she tried to ask. When Iceland put the final cage into the cell, she turned around to step out, only to find her her big brother closing and locking the cell door.

"Big brother what are you doing?" Iceland cried, making her big brother sneer.

"Don't call me that, I'm not your big brother!" Norway exclaimed as he yanked the key from the lock.

"Since it was your idea to make us watch over the idiots, we all decided you will watch over them," Finland explained with a vicious smile on his face. "As well as this will spare us from your awful presence."

"But you can't do this!" Iceland cried.

Her brothers had to be joking! She had been helpful to them, she had done her job and done it well. They couldn't do this to her!

"Sure we can. Next time, don't get hit," Finland said with a smirk.

"But-"

"But nothing, Iceland. Sweden will bring food down for you later. Keep an eye on them and don't let them try to escape," Denmark declared with a note of finality in his voice.

Iceland could only watch as her brothers went up the stairs and left her in the cell along with five countries who had yet to regain consciousness. Iceland stepped up to the cell's bar and stuck her arms through them before resting her head against the criss-crossed bars and watching them leave until the door closed behind Sweden, the last to leave, and left the basement lit by only two weak bulbs on opposite sides of the room. She heaved out a miserable sigh and pushed herself away from the bars. She moved to the back of the cell and sat down on the one dry spot of the cell that was usually shielded from moisture by a few empty wooden crates that had once held pieces and parts to Finland's guns. She glanced over at the cages, watching the sleeping countries, but within a few moments she was bored. She threw out a disgusted blast of air and flopped back onto the ground to count the cracks and stains in ceiling and walls once again.


	4. Chapter 3

**Hi! I know this is late and I really have no excuse. I just hate writing dialogue, which is what this chapter is supposed to be full of, so I kept putting it off. Sorry! This isn't the full chapter I had planned, but rather a good closing point on a chapter I've decided to draw out a bit so I can work on my dialogue and relationship building. So, if this is a bit shorter, that's why. I'm sorry it's been so long! I'd like to thank Midnight, AnimeLover, Terra, Dorkinabigbox, Chelea, and for their awesome and touching reviews. It always makes me smile to see someone has enjoyed my story. I love reading that people have enjoyed my work, or reading criticism, which I feel is important to grow as a writer. I promise to try to update more frequently. Rest assured I will not abandon this story. It may take a while, but I _will_ finish it. Read on and enjoy!**

 **-Symbolic**

 _"_ _Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says_

 _to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."_

 _-C.S. Lewis_

Fifty-three, there were fifty-three cracks in the ceiling and thirteen water stains. Iceland raised her eyebrows a bit. That was twelve more cracks and three more stains than the last time she had been locked in here. Iceland sighed, she felt as though she was going to drop dead of boredom any minute. There was only so long she could count cracks and guess what made up the crusty, old smell that seemed to permeate the cell that no amount of air fresheners could kill. She would know, she had once sprayed five air fresheners and it hadn't even put a dent in the smell. She glanced over at the open cages wishing the people would wake up soon. She kicked the ground and tapped her fingers over her elbow. Impulsively, she got up and walked over to the cages.

Iceland stared down into the first cage at the sleeping body inside. If she tilted her head just right and plugged her ears, she could almost believe he was dead. She took her fingers away from her ears and wrapped her hands around the wires of the cage. She took a moment to stare at the near-identical body to one of her brothers. He looked almost too similar to believe they were separate people. Her lips curled into a sneer as irritation and loathing skipped through her. Finland was always her least favorite brother. He always looked disgusted at her and did nothing but insult her. She began to violently shake the cage.

"Hey! Wake up! Up, up, up!" She yelled.

Iceland sighed in disappointment when the shaking only moved his body around, but didn't wake him up. She spun around and sat down on top of the cage, putting her elbows on her knees and resting her head on her hands. She stared up at where she knew the stairs would be and wished that her brothers had left her a light of some sort. She wondered if she asked for one, would they bring it. Maybe Sweden would, or big brother, but Finland would only sneer at her and Denmark would just shake his head in disappointment. Iceland swallowed a lump in her throat at the thought, she hated disappointing Denmark. She had come to expect it with the others, even, though it pained her to say, even with big brother, but Denmark was the only one who at least didn't despise her and insult her every chance he got.

Iceland sat on top of the cage for a while, ignoring the pain that came from the wire biting into her skin through her clothes. She wondered what her brother's alternates would be like when they woke. She could already tell that they were seriously different from her own brothers. She knew that if her brothers woke up in such a situation that they would fight their way out. It was one of the reasons that they hardly ever got pulled into international disputes, everyone knew not to mess with them, especially Finland. Finland was very strong and he wasn't afraid to show off that strength, unlike her big brother who was also very strong, but usually didn't care enough to really show it off or use it to his advantage.

Iceland sat up straight when she heard a slight gasp. She looked around before leaning over to look between her legs inside of the cage beneath her. In the cage she could see that Finland's alternate, Tino, had woken up and was staring back at her with a mixture of shock, horror, and anger. She stared at him as he sat up and looked cautiously back at her. Slowly, Tino moved his eyes off her, always looking back every few seconds, to take in the room around them.

"Sucks doesn't it?" Iceland asked in blasé voice.

Iceland giggled when Tino jumped and turned back to face her. She raised her eyebrows when his eyes met hers and giggled even harder when he quickly looked away. She stood up and knelt down, turning to face the cage and stare directly at Tino. She waited a moment until he was looking at her before throwing her arms open in a dramatic gesture.

"Welcome to your new prison for the next indefinite amount of time!" Iceland called out with a giddy grin on her face before she broke down into peals of laughter.

"You can come on out if you want. Explore a bit, take in the sights!" Iceland invited as Tino's eyes widened and he leaned away from her.

Iceland waited a few moments before heaving a sigh and letting her arms drop in disappointment.

"Are you all going to be this boring?" she asked.

When Tino just continued to stare at her, Iceland threw her hands up in the air and groaned. Turning, she stomped away from the crates and laid down in the dry spot in the corner and once again started counting the cracks and stains. She heard a slight shifting and turned over on her side to stare at the crates. She could see Tino turning around to look at the others. She also noticed that her own copy was waking up. She smiled and waved when Tino looked over at her. She chuckled under her breath when he flinched and turned back to her waking copy. Very slowly, she watched as Tino slowly left the cage, turning around to check her with nearly every step and flinching every time her smile grew wider. The smile dropped off her face when Tino reached the cage and started rubbing the back of her copy, Emil. She could see Tino's mouth moving, but she couldn't make out what he was saying.

Iceland stared blankly at the scene. She had never seen Finland act that way with anyone, even Sweden who he claimed to care about. Iceland felt the chill of the cell suddenly and she wrapped her own hands around her arms, imagining her big brother doing what Tino was doing. He never had. Despite her calling Norway her big brother, Denmark had been the one to raise her, however grudgingly he did so. Norway may have discovered her, but he had dropped her off with Denmark the first chance he got. Anger burned through her. It wasn't fair. From what she had seen, her copy was weak and sniveling, he hid behind others. He wasn't strong, he didn't have magic, he didn't even seem overly smart. So why did they dote on him when her own brothers never looked at her without disgust coloring their faces?

Iceland suddenly stood up from the floor, not even caring when Tino and Emil flinched. She stormed over to the cages and pushed Tino away from Emil's before upending Emil's cage and sending him sprawling out onto the cold floor entirely. She smiled, but instead of feeling happier, her actions only made her feel more hollow and angry. She growled and threw the cage to the other side of the room. She turned away from the others, kicking Tino's empty cage in frustration. She growled in frustration and kicked the cage again, only getting angrier as the cage did nothing but clatter around, but remained unbent and upright.

"Man, could you keep it down? I've been kidnapped and put to sleep with some of Lukas's creepy stuff, I don't need a headache on top of it," a voice Iceland recognized as Denmark's copy Mathias called out.

"I did not have any part in this. Just because magic was a part of this does not mean I was responsible for any of it," Lukas spoke up.

Iceland turned around and stalked towards the edge of the cell. Just outside the bars was a broken pipe from the ceiling that Iceland had used last time she was locked down here to bang on the bars until Finland finally let her out in a cloud of swears, threats, and dodging fists. Iceland grappled to reach where it sat almost out of reach of the bars. Her hand managed just to catch the pole and roll it a bit closer to her so she could take a firm grasp of it and pull it inside the cell. She held the pipe in her hand and stalked towards the cage. She raised the pipe over her head, ignoring the looks and sounds the others around her were making, and swung down at the cage. But the pipe wouldn't move, she grunted and tried again. It was no fluke, something was stopping the pipe. She spun around, keeping one hand on the pipe, and saw Berwald towering over her, a dark look on his face and the pipe firmly enclosed in one hand.

"Don't."

"Why would you stop me? All our reports indicate that you hate him," Iceland asked.

"I don't. He's family," Berwald responded.

"So?" Iceland questioned confused.

You could still hate and hurt family. Her family did that all the time. Norway hurt Denmark, Finland hurt Sweden and anyone else who stood still long enough, she hurt Norway, or at least tried to.

"I don't what 'family' means here, but back home we've come to accept its meaning as looking out for each other," Lukas said, staring at Iceland with a hard look that made her flinch internally at how similar it was to the look her big brother always gave her.

"That's weird!"Iceland snapped out before relinquishing the pipe and storming off to the corner of the cell.

Iceland looked down at the dusty, dirty corner before laying down and staring at the ceiling again. She could hear them talking in the corner, but she could have cared less what they were saying. They were strange, not normal…they were everything she wanted in a family. They stuck up for each other, her family would rather tear each other down. The idea that they were everything she wanted in a family but that they weren't her family made a deep, burning rage grow within her. A burning rage like the fires she often set, and like an accelerant, she was lit and the fire was about to flare.


End file.
